An Introduction to the Clinical Applications of Antibodies

Abstract

It is now over 100 years since von Behring and Kitasato conducted the investigations that led to the use of foreign antibodies for treatment. Biologically inactive toxoids prepared from tetanus and diphtheria toxins were used to immunize small animals. The recipients were protected against many times the usual lethal dose of the respective toxin (i.e. active immunity). Furthermore, serum from an immunized rabbit could neutralize the toxin and, when injected systemically, protect mice or guinea–pigs (i.e. passive immunity). Recognizing the clinical implications of these studies, von Behring was able to reduce morbidity and mortality in children with diphtheria by use of serum from horses that had been hyperimmunized with the appropriate toxoid. This approach was soon extended by Calmette to the use of equine antisera for the treatment of snake and scorpion envenomation. As discussed in Chapter 6, horses have remained the preferred species for antivenom production because of their ease of handling and the large volumes of blood (up to 10 litres) that can be collected.